Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari MainStreet recently was designated as an accredited Main Street America program for meeting rigorous performance standards.
Tucumcari MainStreet Executive Director Connie Loveland also laid out some of the nonprofit organization’s activities during a city commission work session Thursday.
Each year, Main Street America and its partners announce the list of accredited programs to recognize their commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach.
Tucumcari MainStreet’s performance is evaluated annually by New Mexico MainStreet, which works in partnership with Main Street America to identify the local programs that meet rigorous national performance standards.
To quality for accreditation status, communities must meet a set of standards that include commitments to building grassroots revitalization programs, fostering strong public-private partnerships, nurturing economic opportunity for small businesses and entrepreneurs and actively preserving historic places, spaces and cultural assets.
“We are honored to be an accredited Main Street America and New Mexico MainStreet community,” Loveland stated in a news release. “Achieving national accreditation is the result of a successful, focused revitalization effort to help create a vibrant downtown through historic preservation, economic growth, and community pride.”
In the past year, Tucumcari MainStreet leveraged $147,500 in contracts, grants and donations to provide programs and projects, including the Great Blocks on MainStreet infrastructure project, Forge business accelerator program, Tucumcari Railroad Museum as well as 14 events and promotions.
Loveland said Thursday the organization’s micro-loan fund recently landed three more recipients. It provides up to $20,000 at 2% interest for startup businesses. She said seven businesses are participating in the micro-loan program.
Loveland said 13 buildings in the downtown district received some rehabilitation work during fiscal-year 2022, along with five new businesses that opened with 23 net new jobs.
“It’s nice to see these buildings come to life,” she said. “It’s nice to see people working on things.”
Through programs and projects, Tucumcari MainStreet has supported 55 businesses through promotion and technical assistance.
Loveland also reported traffic in downtown rose 34% in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, which she attributed to openings of coffee shops and other businesses and the reopening of the Odeon Theatre after a long shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Loveland said Tucumcari MainStreet is setting up an artist residency program where those artists will set up courses and artwork displays for a month at a time. Each artist will receive a $250 stipend for art materials and a $500 teaching stipend.
Tucumcari MainStreet volunteers also provided 2,122 hours of service.
“We are very proud to be acknowledged as one of this year’s accredited Main Street America programs. As a board, we are very proud of the hard work and dedication of our Tucumcari MainStreet executive director, Connie Loveland. Ms. Loveland’s hard work is proven through our continued National MainStreet accreditation and the partnership we have with our local governments and New Mexico MainStreet,” Jessica Gonzales, Tucumcari MainStreet board president, stated in a news release.
On average, for every dollar that a Main Street program spent to support their operations, it generates $24.07 of new investment back into their downtown communities.